THE CRIMSON FLOWER
by a shy witch
Summary: Uchiha Madara has been defeated. The War is over. Everything is back to normal. But people changed. In a good or bad way?
1. Chapter 1

**THE CRIMSON FLOWER**

**Uchiha Madara has been defeated. The War is over. Everything is back to normal. But people changed. In a good or bad way?**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 1:**

A tall, dark figure walked out of the blanket of woods by the Northern border of the Fire Country, his black kimono belted loosely around his muscular waist with a thin red and navy sash, displaying his sculpted chest. His black sandals made hardly any sound as he found his way through the boulders and stepped into the underground passage.

The assassin had been working in the shadows alone for four years now, not knowing any other ways to live his now dull life. He was to meet his new client tonight in an old abandoned headquarter that he knew too well.

Greeted at the door by two other missing-nins, the mercenary met his client. A rich entrepreneur that benefited from the shinobi wars, just like Gato. It was an ironic thought that came to the assassin's mind; how alike he and Zabuza Momochi were now, something neither would have guessed at their first meeting.

Kuroda Taiki, literally a large black field. That man was the client. Such a name could scare ignorant people or if that man was a shinobi, but to the mercenary, it was just a joke. If that person was as dark as his name then he would kill his prey himself; not hire a mercenary like himself. Though that would mean no job for him.

"Uchiha Sasuke, an S-rank missing-nin from Konoha. The last shinobi of the great Uchiha clan, a former teammate of the Kyubi's host, a former student of the great Sannin Orochimaru and a former partner of Uchiha Madara…"

All the meeting started the same way. The client telling Sasuke about himself, like he did not know his own life, and then making assumptions based on rumors…

"I heard you were the one who killed said master Orochimaru, and that you were somehow part of the murder of Uchiha Madara, and that you avenged your clan by assassinating your own onii-san. I wonder if all of that is true."

And here are the assumptions, though those are actually truths.

"My life does not concerns anyone but me. If you do not wish for my services then I'll take my leave."

So many words in one sentence… it was very … un-Sasuke-ish, but the shinobi knew he did not have a choice if he wanted to get this matter over with. Sasuke turned away and started counting backward. It was always the same routine; after 3 seconds the client would call him back, apologize and give him his assignment.

3

...

2

...

1

"Mate! Gomennnasai Uchiha-san. It was an inappropriate comment."

Sasuke came back to Taiki. "Hn"

The assassin could see his client was nervous with him so close, after his lack of respect, something very important to the Uchiha.

"The Crimson Flower, heard of it?" asked Taiki, still somewhat nervous.

Sasuke had never heard of that. Curious he took a seat across Taiki and made him continue.

"It is the name given to a shinobi. None of the assassins I sent after him came back alive. He is the reason why my business is having a hard time, he kills my men, protects my enemies; basically he is a thorn in my foot and I want you to take care of it."

"Hn. More info." Sasuke said; that could be anyone.

"Well, that's the issue, it's all the facts I have on that person, beside that he always leaves a kunai with a bloody flower petal attached to it in each of his kills. The rest are rumors."

Sasuke sighed. Rumors are troublesome because they usually are made-up stories but with the lack of info, the rumors might be his best lead to track that shinobi. Maybe that assignment would be less boring than the usual ones.

"Rumors are his armor is crimson red, from all the blood of his victims. This and the flower bullshit is the reason he is named the Crimson Flower."

"Hn"

Taiki took a long breath; the situation was scary to him.

"No one lived long enough to identify that man, but a farmer once found himself in the middle of a scene; over 200 ex-Sound-nins were slaughtered, all with the signature kunai in them-" Taiki leaned toward Sasuke "but get this, in the middle of all the corpses a Konoha headband was found."

"So, it could be from one of the victims"

"Maybe" agreed Taiki, "But I do not think so. This is why I called you in; you are familiar with that village, so you are the person the best adapted for this assignment."

"Aa"

With that as an agreement, Sasuke left his client and went back to the darkness of his familiar forest.

Later that night, our Uchiha avenger took out his bingo book and wrote all he learned so far on his target; the Crimson Petal, which wasn't much.

**Name: (?) AKA The Crimson Flower**

**Gender: Male **

**Age: (?)**

**Village: Konohagakure (?)**

**Rank: (?) probably S according to his victories**

**Fighting Style: (?)**

**Abilities: (?)**

**Trademark: red clothing and flowered kunais**

Reading what he wrote down, the shinobi sighed… if he wanted to accomplish his mission, he either needed to catch this man red-handed, which was not very likely seeing his targets were random, or collect more information. He opted for the second alternative while lying down to catch some sleep. His best option was to somewhat infiltrate Konoha and find out if there was indeed a man called 'The Crimson Flower' there.

He fell asleep thinking of all his old teammates back in Konoha and if any of them could indeed be the one he had to kill. Even if that was the case, he had no bonds left in that village and could easily kill any of them to get enough to eat for a week.

If only he knew…

* * *

** Next Chapter in 10 reviews**

**;P **


	2. Chapter 2

**THE CRIMSON FLOWER**

**Uchiha Madara has been defeated. The War is over. Everything is back to normal. But people changed. In a good or bad way?**

* * *

**THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS :) **

**I said I would not post the next chapter until I had 10 reviews, and I only got 5 but I am in such a good mood that I will post it anyway ^^ you will just have to post more this chapter :) **

**and it's funny on how most of you are guessing who that mysterious shinobi is (however i wont tell you, you have the clues but won't know for sure until the characters do - hehe). Well just so you know I have the first 7 chapters written down, im just editing them so i have my storyline - i won't change it even if you beg XD - **

* * *

**Chapter 2:**

During that time, unknown to the rogue shinobi, a team had come back to the Hidden Village of Konoha from a mission. The six shinobis, their faces hidden under their ANBU masks and wearing similar black traveling cloaks, made their way to the Hokage Tower.

"Enter" said Lady Tsunade, sitting at her paperwork-filled desk, when a knock was made at her door. The six shinobis entered and aligned themselves in a line in front of their Hokage.

"The mission was a success Hokage-sama" said a male voice dully. He approached the desk and handed a scroll as well as a box his team had been sent to retrieve.

"Thank you Shiranui. And you can all take your masks off" the Hokage ordered. Even if she would never admit it out loud, even drunk, she hated ANBU reports like these because she always had a hard time distinguishing her different ninjas. She was glad though to have recognized Shiranui Genma correctly. To his left, his teammates, followed his lead and showed themselves to their leader; Hyuuga Neji, Uzuki Yugao, Uzumaki Naruto and her dear student, Haruno Sakura. Even masked, Tsunade could always tell her student apart, and not because of her strange pink colored hair.

"You are all dismissed" Tsunade-sama said before turning to her apprentice and her best friend. "Sakura, Naruto, please stay." It wasn't rare that the Hokage would pull those two like this, therefore no one objected and with a little 'poof' the other shinobis disappeared.

"Do you need something, shishou?" asked Sakura as she started going through some paperwork to her Hokage like usual. Naruto, instead opted to sit in one of the couches on the side of the Hokage's office. "Old Granny Tsunade! Why do we need to stay behind?" he started to complain. "we've been on that mission forever, I need my share of ramen!" Over the years, the blonde shinobi had become less noisy but to compensate became even more obsessed with ramen.

Obviously offended, though used to the nickname Naruto called her, Tsunade answered "Fine you can leave, I just wanted to have you assist me a bit in my Hokage duties" Since he had turned 18, Tsunade had made sure to involve Naruto in the duties of becoming Hokage, so that when the time came to have a new Hokage to replace her, the Elders would be very inclined to pick the loud orange ramen-lover ninja.

After a few hours of filling out paperwork and reading reports, Tsunade sent the two on their way, but as soon as Naruto had left the office, Tsunade had whispered some instruction to her apprentice who had simply nodded before Naruto could notice.

"Hey Sakura-chan" Naruto started once he had eaten his first 8 bowls of ramen at Ichiraku. The Kunoichi turned to her friend. Both were still wearing their ANBU's gear (without the mask, otherwise it would have been troublesome to eat) and Sakura who was done and full after her first bowl was busy getting rid of some mud off her cloak.

"What is it Naruto?"

"I think we should take a day off tomorrow"

"Why?" Had asked a very confused kunoichi knowing that her best friend loved being busy on missions.

"It's that day again" he simply said, a grave look on his face, something Sakura thought did not suit him at all.

She did not answer but instead started reminiscing. Tomorrow it would officially be 5 years since Uchiha Sasuke left her unconscious on that bench to abandon his village to accomplish his revenge.

"Five years already…" she sighed as she and Naruto left the restaurant to go to their apartment.

"The whole gang wants to meet and spend the day together, you know" Naruto whispered while they walked down the still crowded streets of Konoha. They were almost at their destination when Naruto stopped in the middle of the street. Sakura turned around and faced him.

"How are you holding up?" He asked her.

"You know full well that I gave up on him Naruto," she answered knowing that this wasn't what her friend was talking about. Naruto looked at her straight in the eye. "You know that's not what I mean"

Sakura sighed looking up at the starry sky. She had made the promise to herself to never shed a tear again and she had kept breaking that promise. Even tonight, when the light breeze swept on her face, she struggled to keep her tears in check.

She looked back down at her feet covered in her black heeled boots. "I missed them" she whispered, a lone tear falling on the ground.

Two strong arms snaked their way around her frail body. Naruto hugged her to make her remember she wasn't alone.

"Want to visit them?" Naruto asked his teammate. She simply nodded in his chest and the shinobi teleported them to the cemetery. There he picked up a few fallen Cherry blossoms and guided Sakura through the graves. They both stopped by the headstone marked

**Kotzu & Ayame Haruno**

**Proud and beloved parents of Sakura Haruno, Konoha's Cherry Blossom**

Sakura kneeled in front of her parents' grave. Who knew the final battle against Uchiha Madara would have happened in the middle of Konoha exactly 2 years ago. Even though he was now gone, and the Ninja world saved, he had taken a lot of lives including Sakura's parents. Neither had been shinobis, though they had some basic training. Her father Kotzu was a proud carpenter that would do anything for his little girl and his wife, Ayame was a kimono-shop owner. She made outfits famous all through the different countries and her only regret in life was that her only daughter would rather spend her time being a shinobi than being pretty and wear feminine clothes.

It was well after midnight that Naruto picked up Sakura, after dropping the flowers on the graves, and carried her back home. She had been so devastated after her parents' death that Sakura could not stand living in her old house over the shop. She had received many offers from her friends, Ino and Tenten mainly, to move in with them but instead decided to move in with her teammate.

There wasn't anything between them, except deep affection like best friends or even a brother-sister love, but both were comfortable living with each other. As long as Naruto kept his underwear from lying around.

Once inside, both teenagers took their shower and went to bed, trying not to think about the emotionally hard day that was ahead of them the following morning.

Little did they know…

* * *

** Next Chapter in 15 reviews (i only got 5 last chapter)**

**;P **


	3. Chapter 3

**THE CRIMSON FLOWER**

**Uchiha Madara has been defeated. The War is over. Everything is back to normal. But people changed. In a good or bad way?**

* * *

**THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS :) **

**You know what, I am in such a great mood again that I will post the next chapter :) YAY me!**

**It's really reallllllllllllly short but it made more sense to have it separated from the others anyway. So have fun ready the few words and don't forget you can always tell me all your theories by review ;P i love those**

* * *

**Chapter 3:**

The first rays of sun hit the man's face making him get up to start his day. He made his way to the stream a few meters away from his camp and somewhat cleaned himself. There he was able to catch a few fish which would make a better and bigger breakfast that he ever had in a long time. 'If only I had tomatoes to go with it' he thought as he cooked the fish.

Sasuke quickly ate his food, got his gear ready and managed to clean the area he had spent the night at so that no one would link him to it. He jumped from tree to tree for a few miles trying to think of an approach to enter the village. He had decided that it would simplify his task if he was inside the village.

He knew he was a wanted criminal, however his information gathering would not be great if he spent all his time in a cell. But a trip to Konohagakure's prison may be inevitable. Unless he calls in a favor of his old team. Wasn't that girl Sakura totally in love with him when he left? How long ago was it? Surely she was still an annoying fan girl, and he could use that as an advantage to get in.

But then, he should act like he wanted to come back. All his proof of being a mercenary should be gone, at least from them. And they would most likely take his weapons away.

When Sasuke was about an hour or two away from his old village, he summoned one of his most trusted snakes.

"Massster Sssasssuke!" hissed the snake

"Kaa (AN: from Disney's The Jungle Book) I need you to keep some items for me" ordered the missing-nin. He showed the snake a pile of items consisting of information scrolls that he did not want Konoha to find, his Bingo Book, his katana and other different items. "Your sssword too, Massster?"

"Aa, I made a replica" the shinobi said showing a katana he had on his back. That way even if the village takes away his sword he would still have his powerful katana away from harm. The snake swallowed the items, storing him in a separate stomach so that he could regurgitate them later for his Master. And with a 'poof' the snake went away, leaving Sasuke alone to face a mission that would definitely hurt his Uchiha pride; come back home and ask for forgiveness.

* * *

** Next Chapter in 5 reviews (it doesn't deserve more ^^)**

**;P **


	4. Chapter 4

**THE CRIMSON FLOWER**

**Uchiha Madara has been defeated. The War is over. Everything is back to normal. But people changed. In a good or bad way?**

* * *

**THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS :) **

**Because of the extra extra extra small chapter before I have an EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA big one now ^^**

**means i should get a lot more reviews right ;P**

* * *

**Chapter 4:**

When she woke up, Sakura decided that she had enough mourning the night before and should go on with her day as if it was a regular day. She was up at the crack of dawn and made her way to the kitchen. She started the coffee-maker and took two cups, one for her and one for Naruto who was still sleeping. As usual, she let the boy sleep as much as possible since she was the reason he would have to wake up at the middle of the night because Sakura would be screaming in her sleep because of a nightmare.

The girl, still dressed in her PJs, consisting of short shorts, and either a tank top or one of Naruto's oversized shirts, walked to the bathroom without waking up her friend. Even if his- their apartment was big enough for them, it was still rather small and any noise made anywhere could wake anyone present. Sakura quickly cleaned her face, to wash off the sleep off her eyes and took the hair tie she put on last night to keep her hair out of her face.

Without really paying attention to it, the girl had let her hair grow since the end of the war, and instead of the spiky short hairdo she used to have, her hair was now reaching all the way to her butt in soft waves. She kept her bangs but after days of suffering Ino's complaints, she, just like her friend, was now wearing her bangs sideway, framing her face nicely, while not covering her beautiful jade eyes. After brushing her hair quickly, Sakura took her hair pin and pined her hair up in a cute messy bun, the pin had at the end a beautiful dark red cherry blossom that contrasted nicely with her hair. To go along with that she put on her forehead protector on top of her head, after all you don't change habits you had since childhood that easily.

The kunoichi walk back into the kitchen where she made as silently as she could some eggs and bacon. She had time to serve it in two plates, put them on the kitchen's small table along with the coffee mugs before a very exhausted ninja walked in to sit down. "That looks delicious, Sa-chan, Itadakimasu" They ate their meal in silence, until Sakura brought up what had been on her mind since she woke up.

"Naruto, please do not worry about me" The blonde looked up to the girl he now considered his baby sister.

"Of course, I'll always worry for you! I mean we both know you are strong and all but still-"

"I mean about today" Sakura cut him before he would go more into his brother-sister speech. "It's just a normal day. I'll go see Tsunade-shishou, do my shifts at the hospital, train a bit, make dinner and go to sleep."

Naruto, saw through Sakura's façade but decided to go along with her plan, as long as she was okay, he would leave her alone, until she would need him.

"Okay, just send for me if you need anything, I'll see if any of the guys want to spar with me today"

After breakfast they both dressed for the day, Naruto wearing his ANBU gear with his new favorite cloak on top of it. It was all black with bright yellow, orange and red flames on the bottom with a white kanji in the middle saying 'dattebayo'. It was Naruto's way of showing how alike he and his father, the Fourth Hokage were.

Sakura's attire also was different from before. Though she did not give a care about her appearance, she was unconsciously more feminine. She had curves in all the right places and was well toned with ivory slender legs. She would wear a fishnet top with over it a scarlet wrap-around top that was sleeve-less and stopped right under her now prominent breasts, showing her tone stomach through the fishnet as well as her cherry blossom tattoo on her right hip. Her other tattoo was the ANBU one she had on her left shoulder, clearly visible. Just lower than the tattoo would start her gloves, covering most of her arms but her fingertips, however; her right arm was also covered by a long sleeve, attached to her top, but removable when needed. The sleeve was longer than her arm reaching almost her knee when her arms were along her body. Sakura still wore her black spandex shorts that reached mid-thighs where her shirukens' pouch would be fixed and a scarlet skirt to match her top, with slits on both sides to allow more movement for battle. The front of her skirt as well as the back of her top both wore the white circle representing the Haruno family, even if she was the last one of them. A few inches from where Sakura's skirt and shorts would stop, started her black boots reaching over her knees. There as well as in her sleeve and many other places where hidden some weapon she would use in attack.

Sakura loved her outfit. It was the last one her mother ever made. Sakura remembered when she received it. "Not only will it be very useful in battle but you also look beautiful in it my Sakura-chan. You will be a beautiful kunoichi." And her mother was right.

Sakura made her way to her master's office, realizing that it was already 10. She had wasted a lot of time daydreaming. Once she reached the door she knocked and let herself in, seeing in how she knew her shishou was in there asleep on her desk. The teenager started to work, sending the missions to the Bureau so that they could be delivered to corresponding teams. She filed in the reports from previous missions and sent the orders for the materials needed at the Academy. Apparently Iruka-sensei needed more chalk to teach his students and more markers for the little ones at the daycare.

At around 11, Shizune walked in. If today wasn't a holiday because it was the anniversary of the victory against Uchiha Madara, Shizune would have been here hours ago. She, as well as Sakura had the day off, but they both apparently wanted to get things done.

"You know, Sakura," started Shizune "I only know the real color of that desk since you have been helping Tsunade-sama with all the paperwork." Both girls laughed at that, knowing that their Hokage avoided paperwork like the plaque. "By the way, why are you here?" asked the older kunoichi.

"I could ask you the same, sempai."

"You know I could never abandon Tsunade-sama, and I hoped to get some work done so that the next few days might be more peaceful." Sakura nodded. Shizune looked at her, her eyes asking why Sakura was really here.

"I need to keep busy" Sakura sighed "otherwise I don't think I will overcome the day" Shizune nodded then looked at the Hokage's empty desk. "Now that is a rare sight" both girls laughed before trying to wake their shishou up.

After half an hour, Tsunade-sama was finally awake and ready to celebrate her empty desk with some sake when two ANBU popped up in her office.

"Tsunade-sama, we have someone at the East Gate" Sakura recognized the man talking as Captain Yamato.

"Great, more paperwork" she said sarcastically "Do we know who it is?" Yamato then turned to Sakura before answering. "He is standing by a bench."

Shizune gasped.

Tsunade cursed.

Sakura… didn't do anything.

When the shock went by, the other ANBU asked if they should inform Naruto Uzumaki and Kakashi Hatake. Tsunade nodded while still looking at her apprentice whose mind seemed to be somewhere else.

Sakura was indeed remembering that night, when he left. She told him she loved him. He thanked her. He knocked her out. He laid her on a bench. And he was back to that bench.

Sakura was brought back to reality only to realize she wasn't in the Hokage's office anymore but by the bench that used to give her nightmare. Naruto, and Kiba who had been sparring with the blonde when he got the news were standing on either side of the kunoichi, both unusually quiet. Kakashi-sensei was a few meters away with Captain Yamato and Tsunade-shishou. Four ANBU guards were around the man who no one thought they would ever see again. The only man who had betrayed them. The very same man they thought was dead.

Sasuke had been 'welcomed' by the village by a bunch of ANBU. A few of them disappeared while the others strip searched him and took all of his belongings. That's when he saw them. Kakashi, whose expression was unreadable, the Hokage who was clearly pissed, the dobe, with the dog-guy who had expression between kicking his ass right here and there and welcoming him back loudly with manly hugs. And then there was her. She was his hope to be welcomed back to the village, to avoid spending months in prison and get the most information from. After all, he had heard that she was the Hokage's apprentice, right hand, and friend. She must know what he would need and be willing to give it to him, like the little fan girl she was. The fact that she was good-looking even from far away wasn't far away in his mind. But still she hadn't moved, her blank stare facing him.

"Bring him to my office, I do not want a scene in the streets." Said the Hokage before disappearing. She was followed then by Sakura, the dobe and everyone else.

"Hn" the Uchiha said once he was there. Things hadn't changed a bit around that office.

"Sakura bind him, everyone leave but Naruto and Kakashi" everyone followed Lady Tsunade's order and exited the room. Sakura walked closer to the man, she once considered her teammate, her friend, her crush, her love. But now she felt nothing toward that man. After making a few hand seal in Sasuke's back to be sure he could not analyze it with his Sharingan she pulled string of chakra from his back and wrapped it tightly around him. Not only could he not use his own chakra but that girl had also used it against him. Seeing her up close while she was paralyzing him, he couldn't stop the thought that she had well matured and was quite beautiful.

"Stop staring" said Sakura who had gone back to her place on his left, facing her Hokage. Her tone was cold, nothing like what he had expected.

"Hn." He grunted listening to what the Old Lady had in store for him.

"Why are you back?"

Sasuke had thought ahead and knew that someone would ask him that question. The Uchiha stared straight in the Hokage's eyes and recited his little speech. "It was always in my intentions to come back to Konoha in order to revive my clan." Tsunade gaped at him. She had never heard me speak so many words at once. That and well, what he said was a little disturbing. It's not what you suppose an 18 year old avenger to say. But then again an 18 year old avenger is already kinda disturbing.

"Okay but why did you only come back now?"

"My goal was to kill my brother, but you know already know that since that is the reason I left. I also had to escape and kill Orochimaru. I couldn't let that gay creepy purple snake get away with stealing my body for his own purposes. And then there was the Madara incident. I heard the dobe was able to finish my job." Naruto snickered to his old nickname muttering a small "Teme" under his breath. Sasuke was impressed he had not yelled yet since he had gotten there. Guess he grew up a bit too.

"So, you could have come back 2 years ago, Sasuke" continued Kakashi, trying to stay neutral, his emotions sad because his student had betrayed them and happy to see him alive and back.

"Well I don't know if you noticed" said Sasuke with a smirk on his face "but by then I was an S-class wanted criminal. I had to lay low until people forgot about me. And it did seem to work, your ANBU did not kill me on sight, as they would have done 2 years ago."

"Sakura" Sasuke turned around to see why the Hokage had called the pink-haired girl when the latter punched him in the gut. To say he had not expected it would be the understatement of the year. How could that frail girl punch him so hard that he was now stuck in the back wall while spitting blood.

"That was too much, Sa-chan" Naruto whined.

"Whatever" muttered the kunoichi while still looking impassible.

The group discussed the matter a bit more, leaving the sharigan user on the floor all bloody and bruised from the punch, until the Hokage came by Sasuke, healed him and addressed him.

"We cannot fully trust you Uchiha, but for helping us to get rid of 3 of our top wanted criminals I will grant you probation." Sasuke nodded. It was more than he had actually hoped for. "You won't be able to go on missions. You will have to go through interrogation by Morino Ibiki and the Yamanaka team." Sasuke nodded again, thinking of schemes to throw his investigators off. "You will also meet with Anko, and have escorts at all time." Okay, the Uchiha did not like the last part. He had expected it but still did not like it. How was he supposed to contact his client or investigate if he had ANBU following him all the time.

"Now for the escorts-" "Do you think I could stay with the dobe instead of someone I do not know?" Naruto grinned at him, happy to get his friend back but he did not have time to warn him before-

"You waltz in here, giving me a lot more paperwork and expect to get everything you wish?" Yelled the Hokage while glaring at the teenager. Sasuke had to admit that the old Lady could be scary. Naruto sighed. Tsunade's wrath; that's what he wanted to warn the Teme about.

"I will assign my two best ANBU as your escort, and you are to listen to everything they tell you! Do you hear me?" Sasuke nodded.

After a minute of silence, Tsunade-sama resumed her screaming, on another target though this time.

"NARUTO, SAKURA, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR!"

The two shinobis shook a bit before putting on their ANBU mask and cloaks that they had to have on them at all time. They had not expected to be chosen for this task, since most would consider them biased, but they both smiled smugly under their masks for being called the best ANBU in the village.

"Now I believe you two will keep a close watch on him."

And with this the trio was dismissed.

Naruto was about to greet his friend now that they were away from Tsunade-baa-san but was cut off by Sakura slapping Sasuke across his face.

"That's for leaving" she said coldly surprising the black haired boy. But what was even more shocking was when she then hugged him tightly. Even he couldn't stop the blush that had started to rise to his cheeks. "And that is for coming back." Sakura said letting him go, a genuine smile on her face still hidden by her mask.

Naruto snickered, proud of his little Sa-Chan. "Welcome back, Teme." He yelled, something EVERYONE had been expecting.

"Hn."

"Still the same vocabulary range, I see" said Naruto. He stopped his teasing when Tsunade exited her office and spotted them. Instinctively, Naruto hid a bit behind Sakura, which did not go unnoticed by anyone.

"Sakura, Why are you still here?"

"What do you mean, shishou?"

"It's not because you have this new escort mission that the other ones are to be ignored" Sakura nodded.

"Then I'll be on my way."

"I agree, and take these two with you when you do your rounds"

"And what about -"

"The conditions remain the same" sighed Tsunade. Naruto seemed at loss in that conversation but took a little relief when he saw that Sasuke did too. "I will have Kakashi replace you, when you have to be out of town." She smiled at her apprentice before putting her hand on her shoulder. "What are you still doing here? Off you go" she finished turning around.

The two boys were catching up, well Naruto was talking to Sasuke while the latter seemed to ignore him. They were both following Sakura to the Hospital until she stopped.

"What's going on Sa-Chan?"

The Kunoichi grabbed her two friends and pulled them into a dark alley.

"What's going on, Sakura?" said Naruto worried. Unlike his two teammates, he didn't have a great sense for distinguishing chakra. Sasuke had felt the menace getting closer to them and for once was glad he had his pink haired, green eyed friend with him.

'Wait, she isn't my friend' thought Sasuke. Sensing the enemies getting nearer he decided to deal with that 'friend' issue later. How was he supposed to defend himself seeing as he was still stuck in his own chakra-made ropes?

"What are we hiding from?" complained Naruto.

"Fan girls" whispered Sakura while a crowd of about 50 girls ran past them yelling stuff along the lines 'Sasuke-kun is back!', 'We love you Sasuke-kun', 'I'll help you revive your clan'… you get the picture!

Once the storm had passed, Sakura whispered to her comrades, lifting her mask "Was I really like that?"

"Aa" answered the Uchiha, his onyx eyes scrutinizing her face. 'She really changed though' he thought.

However Naruto had another answer. He shrugged "Well, you were, kinda, but you also really did love him, that's why it hurt so much"

Sasuke almost wanted to remind them that he was right there but decided against it. He also was mesmerized on how the girl he knew had changed. She had accepted her mistakes and moved on, even if it had been supposedly painful like Naruto had said. She also did seem to really love him, which he had always doubted ever since he left her. He had only felt bad because he had abandoned a teammate, nothing more. He also found himself regretting the fact that she wasn't blushing anymore when she was around him, it was cute. 'WHAT? Uchiha Sasuke cannot find anything cute!'

He was brought back to reality when Sakura said "We better transform your face so that you won't be recognized as much in the streets" while freeing him. 'At least, she is still smart' thought Sasuke.

After a few hand signs, Sasuke did not look at all like he did a second ago. Instead of his fair complexion, he had some tan like a citizen of Suna, instead of his cold onyx eyes he had nice warm light brown eyes and even worse was that his spiky chin length black hair was now up to his shoulders somewhat wavy and a nice shade of dirty blonde.

Naruto whistled at Sakura's job.

"And you call Sai gay" said Sakura smirking. Sasuke, his eyes still on his pinkette companion thought that this proud smirking face suited her well.

Naruto dug into his pouch and found a piece of mirror he used on missions and showed Sasuke his reflection. The Uchiha had to admit that even if he didn't recognize himself he still looked good.

"Nice job" he said to Sakura expecting her to blush, instead she looked him straight in the eyes and answered "I do have better taste in guys now" she put her mask down and started to go back on the street. Her answer had somewhat bothered the Sharingan user. The end of the journey to the hospital was quiet except from the rumors of the villagers about a missing-nin coming back to the village.

Once she entered the Hospital, Sakura turned immediately right and unlocked a door with a sign 'Dr. HARUNO SAKURA – HEAD OF KONOHAGAKURE HOSPITAL' and the three entered.

Sasuke was impressed. He knew that she had become a medic-nin and even if he used to find them weak and unneeded, since he met Tsunade and Kabuto, he had gained a lot of respect for them. Therefore, being considered the best medic of Konoha must mean that Sakura was good. Maybe he had been wrong about the rosette, thought Sasuke while Sakura changed – took off her mask and black cloak as well as her right and only sleeve, put down some weapons she had hidden and put on a white doctor's coat with a name tag, saying the same thing as her door. She picked up some instruments put in her pockets and folders before sitting down at her desk, a pen in hand.

Sasuke looked at Naruto who seemed used to this routine sit in a burgundy and beige couch under a window. When Sasuke sat down next to Naruto, the blonde made sure Sakura could not hear them before he started speaking. "What do you think?" Sasuke answered by raising an eyebrow. Naruto, knowing his friend, knew that he was asking for more clarification. Naruto pointed to the rosette. "What do you think about her?" The Uchiha knew his friend was adding 'do you still think she is that annoying, weak, little fan girl?' but the good thing about those two comrades was that they always knew what the other was talking about.

"She's different." He said still watching the kunoichi from the corner of his eye.

"Duh!" said Naruto "and they call you smart!" Sasuke glared at his friend – was Naruto his friend? Well he was an ally for this mission. "By the way, you know what day it is today right?"

Sasuke wasn't really paying attention to the calendar anymore, he just knew it was some time in autumn but that was it. Seeing that his friend wasn't getting the clue, Naruto answered. "It's kind of an anniversary; a double one actually." Sasuke mentioned the dobe to continue. "Your leaving? Remember that? It was 5 years ago, day for day."

'Has it been that long already?' thought Sasuke. The truth was since he killed Itachi, he had lost the 'will to fight' you could say. He was living his life, day by day, working just enough to live to the next day.

"Wait is that why she is so gloomy today? She isn't like that usually right?" Naruto decided to ignore his friend's inquiry and continue with his story.

"Not only that" continued the blonde "but it's also the anniversary to the fall of Madara and the end of the war."

"So she should be happy" Sasuke had remarked that the village seemed in a festive mood when he arrived.

"Her parents were the first casualties of the attack on Konoha" Naruto said.

Sasuke froze. She had lost her family, just like himself.

"She had started training really hard ever since you left. She even surpassed Granny Tsunade." Sasuke was even more impressed now. Tsunade was an equal to Orochimaru, if not better, and if Sakura had surpassed her… Damn that girl is strong.

"but her parents were the first people she had not been able to heal. And to this day, they are still the only ones." Both men fell into a silence because Sakura had risen from her seat and made her way to her door. She looked back and Sasuke was now able to realize that the girl standing in front of him, no the beautiful woman standing in front of him had lost the spark the old sweet innocent Sakura used to have in her jade eyes. "I gotta go check on a few patients, can I trust you both not to make a mess of my office and hospital?" Naruto got up to hug her, leaving a small kiss on her cheek, making her smile. They nodded to each other and she left, closing the door behind herself.

"You hurt her Sasuke!" accused Naruto turning to face the Teme, uncharacteristically serious. Sasuke nodded and for once since his battle with his brother he started to feel remorse. "She was ALWAYS strong and you broke her." "How?"

"How you broke her? Are you kidding me?"

"No! how was she strong? She couldn't do anything when we were genins."

Naruto looked at him wide-eyed. "You don't think it takes strength to stand up to those Sound-nin during our Chunin Exam while we were both passed out, to cut her own hair, her only pride to save us, to make that snake's mark disappear so that you would not do something you would regret, to stand in the middle of the two of us while we fought on this roof. And don't you think it takes strength to find you and stand up to you when you left us?"

Sasuke didn't say anything. It was like for the first time in years that not only someone had talk to him that seriously, but also made him see a situation from another point of view. It had made him open his eyes on something he should have realized years ago.

"When your brother told you, you were weak, how did it feel?" Naruto asked. "Think about that, because that is exactly what Sakura felt when you told her she was weak. And to make her worse you called her 'annoying'. How is it annoying to care for her friends? You have to admit she had strength to get up after that and move on."

The guys had not realized that the office door was opening behind them until a familiar voice said. "And she must have some damn strength to be able to confess her love to you, knowing you did not care for her".

* * *

** Next Chapter in 10 reviews (or when i feel like posting^^)**

**;P **


	5. Chapter 5

**THE CRIMSON FLOWER**

**Uchiha Madara has been defeated. The War is over. Everything is back to normal. But people changed. In a good or bad way?**

* * *

**THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS :) **

**i know the story isnt going fast enough but that only means there will be more chapters right? ^^**

**and you can always review me ideas and theories i LUV those hehe**

* * *

**Chapter 5:**

The two shinobis quickly turned around toward the direction of the voice. Even with the familiarity, their instincts were still present and both Naruto and Sasuke drew out a kunai. The intruder made his way to Sakura's desk and leaned on it, taking out a paint brush and scroll.

"Damn, Sai! I thought you would have learned to knock in your stupid books! And where the hell did you get a kunai Teme! Didn't we take all your weapons?" The dark-haired teen shrugged while putting the kunai back in his friend's pouch, the exact place where he got it from. 'Damn. He was so fast, I didn't notice him take a kunai from me' thought Naruto.

"Anyway Dickless. I came here to see Ugly. You know where she's at?"

"STOP CALLING ME DICKLESS, YOU EMOTIONALLY RETARDED BASTARD!" A few nurses turned around in the hallway to look into the office. A few of them were actually giggling at Naruto whose face had turned red from embarrassment. Sasuke who didn't want attract any attention got up and closed the currently open door. However, he couldn't help but tease his friend. "Wow, I knew you changed Dobe, but I didn't know you had lost your dick!" The blonde gaped at his friend his face twitching in annoyance. He was about to retort when the door burst open, throwing the Uchiha who had been leaning against it on the floor.

"What the hell is going on Naruto? What did you do?" said an obviously pissed-off Sakura glaring at the blonde. 'she looks like Teme when she's looking at me like that' he thought, but did not dare to say out loud; he didn't have a death wish.

"Ehh! Sakura-chan, why do you always blame me?"

"Because you were the one yelling!"

"It wasn't my fault-"

"It never is with you…"

"No really Saku-"

"I do not want to know, Naruto"

Seeing as he couldn't respond, Naruto simply pointed at Sai. Sasuke had gotten up and inwardly chuckled at his friend's antics.

"Ah, Hello Sai!" greeted the kunoichi, once she saw the painting man by her desk. Sasuke had to agree, the changes in her faces were obvious from the death glare toward Naruto and the friendly smiling face she gave that Sai-guy.

"Ugly" he said acknowledging her. Sasuke was sure that the Sakura he knew would have gotten annoyed at this greeting and screamed at the top of her lungs, the same way she did with Naruto. She must have changed even more! But why the hell does he call her ugly? Even the Uchiha had to admit she wasn't THAT bad.

"Hokage-sama informed me you were on escort duty" the boy named Sai said glancing quickly at Sasuke, before looking back at the kunoichi. "However, I was wondering if you wanted to go to the burial grounds with me?"

Sakura looked at her friend shocked, her smile disappearing as fast as it had appeared "Why would you ask that Sai?"

"Well I read in a book that in periods of mourning, people were supposed to accompany their friends there for comfort."

'Was the guy a retard?' thought Sasuke before looking at the shinobi more carefully. He had a sickly white complexion, onyx-coloured hair and eyes, was obviously arrogant and a good ninja since the Uchiha remembered seeing him with his old teammates when they had tried to pick him up from Orochimaru. 'Is he some kind of copycat? He looks exactly like me! A less cool looking me'

After a few minutes, Sakura had still not answered. She made her way to her desk where she put the folders she was holding down without meeting anyone's glances.

"Yo, idiot! Do you really think it was a smart move to say that" murmured Naruto low in Sai's ear, however Sakura had heard it. Her blank face became a smiling one, even if you could see that her smile was forced.

"Arigato Sai" She said changing her clothes back to her ANBU uniform. "However just like you stated, I am on escort duty. Maybe another time" she finished putting her mask back on. The male did not seem at all affected by her response and simply vanished.

"Sak-"

"Don't even say anything Naruto. He's awkward but at least he is trying" she said defending the shinobi. Naruto walked closer to the kunoichi and hugged her tightly for a few minutes, before putting his mask on like her.

"Teme," he said addressing Sasuke "Until we have new orders, you'll stay at my place"

"Aa"

"We'll go now there now, but do you need anything from the village, like clothes or books are whatever you use to pass time?" Sasuke shook his head and the trio left the hospital. Once they were out of Saruka's hearing range, Naruto whispered to his friend "I have condoms if you need" he said quickly before following the kunoichi, leaving a smirking Sasuke.

To avoid the crowds, they jumped from rooftops to rooftops, passing random shinobis like Inuzuka Hana, Kiba's sister and Ebisu, probably looking for Konohamaru and his friends. Soon they had reached Naruto's apartment's roof and made their way down the stairs to the front door. Naruto fumbled with his pouch to find his keys. Knowing how long it could take, Sakura made her way to the stairs and sat down. Sasuke, watched her and decided that she was usually more right than their blonde idiotic friend and followed her, sitting down on the stairs next to her. After a good 20 minutes of loud exasperated screams from Naruto and a serious cramp in her backside Sakura got up.

"Oi, Naruto" the ninja turned around to look at her. The kunoichi was glaring at him so he decided to stand aside while she simply took her key out of her sleeve and opened the door.

"Why didn't you do that from the beginning?" said Naruto

"Because you always insist that you got the situation under control and you act like a PMSing macho with me if I try to help you." She answered entering the apartment. Naruto motioned Sasuke to follow her and the blonde closed the door as they all got inside.

"How come you have a key to the dobe's place?" asked the dark-haired boy to the girl who was trying to get her boots off.

"I live here" she said simply going to the kitchen, leaving a questioning Sasuke well… with more questions.

Sasuke had been to the blonde's place more than once as a genin, usually to get his lazy ass off bed to go training or on a mission. The hallway was part of the main room of the apartment. It was a L-shaped room with directly by the front door a big king sized bed with orange and red pillows and a cream comforter, an island separating that bedroom with the kitchen with basically took the whole corner of the apartment and to its right a off white couch against the huge windows that showed the balcony and facing the TV. To the left of the front door was a smaller one that Sasuke knew went to the bathroom, the only other room in this apartment. The place was too small for even 1 person to live in, so how did the two of them did? And where does Sakura sleeps? On that couch? Where was he supposed to sleep? Certainly not in that bed with Naruto!

"Wow, your place is unusually clean, dobe!" Sasuke said walking more into the room. "Where the hell did the half-eater bowl of ramen, rotten milk, dirty underwear and trash that usually decorated your floor go?" This is when he saw the addition he was sure was from his pink-haired teammate. "Is that bookshelves? I didn't know you knew what books even were?"

"Eh! Those are Sakura's. And that desk is too… She has to work there a lot" Naruto said, ignoring the insult.

It was well into the afternoon and the three teenagers kinda lounged on the couch, Naruto watching some ridiculous TV show, Sakura was reading a Medical book and Sasuke was well, staring at the wall. He had been living in caves or in the forest for years where he never had anything to do, so he did not know of anything he should be doing on his free time. He knew he should be asking his friends for information regarding his mission but the fact that he would be asking that the same day he decided to go home, without having talked to them in years or even since he got here would raise suspicion even in Naruto. The dark-haired boy turned to see that his blond friend was too into his show to pay attention to him so he looked on his friend's other side only to see a pink bun and bangs since her face was hidden behind her book.

"You do know that you are making a crappy job look even worse, right?" asked Sasuke while staring at the wall again. The two teenagers had heard though and stopped their activities to look at the Uchiha.

"And you do know that if you try to do anything funny I have the right to pummel you to a pulp" said Sakura looking at him. Sasuke looked at her. Neither seemed to want to break the eye contact first and Sasuke was impress she could withstand his glare, and even better return it. They both broke it when they heard Naruto.

"Teme! It's not because we are not in gear anymore that we are not watching you. I know for a fact you have been staring at that wall for exactly 52 minutes and 48 seconds, with breaks every 7 minutes to look at Sakura and I. You also looked at my place, searching for exits, traps and hidden weapons." He finally faced his friend. "You are not the only one that grew up, teme. Unlike what you think, we earned our places as ANBU, we kick ass! We are powerful, not the little genins you left. Believe it!"

Sakura smiled at her best friend, picked up a book and laid her head on his lap before continuing reading. "And if you want a piece of advice, do not take Sakura's threat easily. She can as easily kill you as she can heal you." The pinkette smirked at the Uchiha would did not seem to believe it.

"Fine" he grumbled "And are the two of you dating?"

* * *

** Next Chapter in 10 reviews (or when i feel like posting^^)**

**;P **


End file.
